Tata Corus acquisition

On 5th October 2006 the board of directors of Anglo-Dutch steelmaker Corus accepted a $7.6 billion takeover bid from Tata Steel, the Indian steel company, at 455 pence per share of Corus. The following months saw a lot of negotiations from both sides of the deal. Tata Steel's bid to acquire Corus Group was challenged by CSN, the Brazilian steel maker. Finally, on 30 January 2007, Tata Steel purchased a 100% stake in the Corus Group at 608 pence per share in an all cash deal, cumulatively valued at USD 12.04 Billion. The deal is the largest Indian takeover of a foreign company and made Tata Steel the world's fifth-largest steel group.

The involved companies

Tata Steel, formerly known as TISCO (Tata Iron and Steel Company Limited), was the world's 56th largest and India's 2nd largest steel company with an annual crude steel capacity of 3.8 million tonnes. It is based in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, India.^[1][2] It is part of the Tata Group of companies. Post Corus merger, Tata Steel is India's second-largest and second-most profitable company in private sector with consolidated revenues of Rs 1,321.10 billion and net profit of over Rs 123.50 billion during the year ended 31 March 2008.^[3][4] The company was also recognized as the world's best steel producer by World Steel Dynamics in 2005. The company is listed on BSE and NSE; and employs about 82,700 people (as of 2007).

Corus was formed from the merger of Koninklijke Hoogovens N.V. with British Steel Plc on 6 October 1999. It has major integrated steel plants at Port Talbot, South Wales; Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire; Teesside, Cleveland (all in the United Kingdom) and IJmuiden in the Netherlands. It also has rolling mills situated at Shotton, North Wales (which manufactures Colorcoat products), Trostre in Llanelli, Llanwern in Newport, South Wales, Rotherham and Stocksbridge, South Yorkshire, England, Motherwell, Scotland, Hayange, France, and Bergen, Norway. In addition it has tube mills located at Corby, Stockton and Hartlepool in England and Oosterhout, Arnhem, Zwijndrecht and Maastricht in the Netherlands. Group turnover for the year to 31 December 2005 was £10.142 billion. Profits were £580 million before tax and £451 million after tax.

Synergies between the two companies

There were a lot of apparent synergies between Tata Sponge iron which was a low cost steel producer in fast developing region of the world and Corus which was a high value product manufacturer in the region of the world demanding value products. Some of the prominent synergies that could arise from the deal were as follows:

• Tata was one of the lowest cost steel producers in the world and had self-sufficiency in raw material. Corus was fighting to keep its productions costs under control and was on the look out for sources of iron ore.
• Tata had a strong retail and distribution network in India and SE Asia. This would give the European manufacturer an in-road into the emerging Asian markets. Tata was a major supplier to the Indian auto industry and the demand for value added steel products was growing in this market. Hence there would be a powerful combination of high quality developed and low cost high growth markets
• There would be technology transfer and cross-fertilization of R&D capabilities between the two companies that specialized in different areas of the value chain
• There was a strong culture fit between the two organizations both of which highly emphasized on continuous improvement and ethics. Tata steel's Continuous Improvement Program 'Aspire’with the core values :Trusteeship,integrity,respect for individual, credibility and excellence. Corus's Continuous Improvement Program 'The Corus Way' with the core values : code of ethics, integrity, creating value in steel, customer focus, selective growth and respect for our people.

Counter bid by CSN

In November 2006, Brazilian steel marker Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional (CSN) challenged Tata Steel's proposal for acquisition. They countered Tata Steel's offer of 455 pence per share by offering 475 pence per share of Corus.

Proposed funding of the deal

Tata surprised the credit default swap segment of the derivative markets by deciding to raise $6.17bn of debt for the deal through a new subsidiary of Corus called 'Tata Steel UK', rather than by raising the debt itself. Tata's security credit rating is investment grade, whereas the new subsidiary may not be. The higher risk associated with raising debt through a subsidiary with a lower credit rating prompted Fitch Ratings to downgrade its rating of the credit swap risks in the takeover to 'negative'. Fitch also stated that Corus' responsibility for the debt may lead to Corus' own unsecured debt rating being downgraded. This does not affect the rating of bonds issued by Corus which are secured debt.

The deal

On 31 January 2007, following the lack of agreement on an offer, an auction process was triggered. Following the conclusion of the auction process (at an unprecedented length of nine rounds) conducted by the Panel in accordance with Rule 32.5 of the Code (the "Auction"), Tata Steel announced the proposed acquisition of Corus Group at 608p per share, that being 5p more than CSN's top offer of 603p. The final valuation of Corus was thus put at $12.04 Billion.

Timelines

• On 20 October 2006, Tata Steel announced that it had agreed to pick up a 100% stake in the Anglo-Dutch steel maker Corus at 455 pence per share in an all cash deal, cumulatively valued at GBP 4.3 billion (USD 8.04 billion).
• On 19 November 2006, the Brazilian steel company CSN launched a counter offer for Corus at 475 pence per share, valuing it at $8.4 billion.
• On 11 December 2006, Tata preemptively upped the offer to 500 pence, which was within hours trumped by CSN's offer of 515 pence per share, valuing the deal at $9.6 Billion. The Corus board promptly recommended both the revised offers to its shareholders.
• On 11 December 2006, CSN announced a formal offer for the Company at an offer price of 515 pence per Corus Share, valuing the deal at $9.6 Billion.. The CSN Acquisition would also be implemented by way of a scheme of arrangement and is subject to a pre-condition that either Corus Shareholders reject the Tata Scheme or the Tata Scheme is otherwise withdrawn by Corus or lapses. The Corus board promptly recommended both the revised offers to its shareholders.
• Also on 19 December 2006, UK Watchdog the Panel on Takeovers and Mergers announced that the last date for each of Tata and CSN to announce revised offers for the Company, should they wish to do so, is 30 January 2007. They also warned that it would begin an auction procedure if the two remained in competition.
• On 31 January 2007 Tata Steel won their bid for Corus after offering 608 pence per share, valuing Corus at $11.3bn

Final deal structure

• $3.5–3.8bn infusion from Tata Steel ($2bn as its equity contribution, $1.5–1.8bn through a bridge loan)
• $5.6bn through a LBO ($3.05bn through senior term loan, $2.6bn through high yield loan)

New board formulation

A new board was formulated with representation from both the companies to provide a common platform for strategy and integration.

• Mr. R.N. Tata will be the Chairman of Tata Steel and Corus
• Mr. Jim Leng will be the deputy chairman of Tata Steel and Corus
• Mr. B Muthuraman, Mr. Ishaat Hussain and Mr. Arun Gandhi to join the Corus board

Strategic and Integration Committee

A 'Strategic and Integration Committee' was formulated to develop and execute the integration and further growth plans. Appropriate cross functional teams were formed under this committee to look into specific issues.

See also

• Tata Steel
• Corus Group
• List of steel producers

References

External links

• World Steel Dynamics